MORE than 200 people signed a petition to get a referendum on an elected mayor for Birmingham at a city mosque.

MORE than 200 people signed a petition to get a referendum on an elected mayor for Birmingham at a city mosque.

Worshippers leaving Spark-brook Islamic Centre and Mosque in Sydenham Road were asked to support the campaign by the charity Birmingham Citizens.

Council leader Coun Mike Whitby has said he will only organise a referendum if 36,000 residents - which is five per cent of the city's 720,000 voters - sign the petition calling for it.

The organisation has been collecting signatures since March after its members voted to adopt the campaign.

At the weekend they were also collecting signatures at farmers markets on Kings Norton Green and in Har-borne High Street.

Andrew Crossley, lead organiser for the charity's campaign, said: "We have found an awful lot of enthusiasm for people having the right to decide for themselves."

Safdar Zaman, an office manager for the city council, said people should be given the choice.

The 38-year-old, from Oakwood Road, Sparkhill, said: "By having the choice every citizen of Birmingham can decide what's best for them.

"We choose our own councillors but this would enforce the public perception of the council as well as giving people a further voice."

Javed Khan, a welfare worker at the centre, said more than 200 signatures were also collected there four weeks ago.

He added: "We need someone who will put the city first and is for Birmingham rather than for a political party."

Several thousand signatures have been amassed by Birmingham Citizens and the charity plans to continue collecting them to add to the thousands sent in to the Birmingham Mail via the cut-out forms published in the newspaper.